The version number was bumped purely because the end numbers were getting a bit high. No other reason. Linus himself has said words to this affect.
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SirexSep 17 '12 at 23:31

1

@Sirex is right, but to make sure you have access to bugfixes and keep the management of the updates simple, you maybe should choose a distribution with a current kernel.
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Thomas BergerOct 12 '12 at 19:53

If you need 2.6.39 you can use Oracle Linux, which is an RHEL clone that provides its own kernel (which just happens to be 2.6.39). I've used it in a couple of places to get driver support that wasn't present in 2.6.32.